Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: Buffalo-Sabres

“We’ll be above the midpoint,” Regier said. “How far above, we’ll wait and see. We have some room, not a lot of room.”

The midpoint is $48.7 million, so expect the Sabres to spend about $50 million. That gives them more than $10 million to play with. Some will go toward their five restricted free agents: Paul Gaustad, Daniel Paille, Steve Bernier, Clarke MacArthur and Mark Mancari. The Sabres also are interested in extending the contracts of goaltender Ryan Miller and captain Jason Pominville.

But if there’s an unrestricted free agent the Sabres want, they have the ability to pay for him.

So, who’s out there that fits the Sabres’ needs on the blue line and in goal? Orpik might top the list. The 6- foot-2, 219-pounder is the physical presence the Sabres lack. It helps that he grew up in East Amherst, where his family still lives.

The Buffalo Sabres recently were honored as the NHL’s “Professional Sports Team of the Year” in Sports Business Journal’s annual awards. They were cited for increasing their season ticket base from about 5,800 to 14,800 since the lockout, with a waiting list of 6,000. They were hailed for maintaining reasonable ticket costs, instituting variable single-game pricing and enhancing the attractiveness of their product to sponsors.

Who can quibble with any of those distinctions? Outside of some dubious hockey personnel decisions, the franchise has done right by its fans and given Sabres hockey a local presence unequaled since the team’s nascent years. The recognition is well-deserved.

My gripe is with a stand-alone quote that appears with the SBJ story. Under the headline, “What People Are Saying,” comes this bold-typed snippet from John Cimperman of Cenergy Communications: “The fact that they have turned Buffalo from a football town into a hockey town is well recognized.”

It was a day that many people will never forget. And now the Buffalo Sabres want to find out why it was so special to you.

As the summer months roll on, the Sabres are producing a DVD to commemorate last January’s Winter Classic. The New Year’s Day match-up featured the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins playing outdoors in front of a capacity crowd of more than 71,000 hearty fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY.

A featured section of that DVD will be “My Classic Stories,” a collection of fan stories from the day told by the actual individuals who experienced them. The six most compelling entries, as chosen by Sabres staff, will be videotaped by Sabres production crew and used in the Winter Classic DVD that will be released prior to the start of the 2008-09 season.

Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, recently appointed to the NHL rules committee, said he will enter discussions about smaller goaltending equipment with an open mind.

“You have to walk a fine line,” Miller told the Buffalo News. “They’ve already trimmed it down once. I suffered for it from breaking my thumb (during the 2005-06 season). That situation wasn’t well thought out. They had dimensions and said, ‘Here, this should work.’ ”

Simply, the Sabres aren’t going anywhere regardless of whether Golisano decides to cash in on his investment. And that remains a possibility.

Who could blame the guy?

Even conservative estimates show potential profits surpassing $50 million if the team is sold. Golisano expressed concerns about the NHL’s future if the salary cap continues rising. He would get the biggest bang from a sale after pulling the team from bankruptcy and assuming the risk. Quinn would stand to make a good buck. Presumably, Chief Operating Officer Dan DiPofi would get a slice, too.

4) Is there an NHL team that looks dumber or cheaper than the Buffalo Sabres right now?

Former Sabre Danny Briere, who practically begged the Sabres to give him a reasonable contract offer last season, is leading the league in playoff scoring and is a big reason that the Flyers still have a chance to go from worst to first in a single season. The Sabres made it clear they had no interest in signing Briere (though for the record they did make a token effort hours before free agency opened, an effort that reminded many of their “attempt” to re-sign Ted Nolan as coach a decade earlier).

Over at Maxim, Ryan Miller is blogging the playoffs in a weekly report. From today’s entry, he’s got a few thoughts to share on watching Avery the other night:

The NHL weighed in and will now interpret any actions like that as interference. Ya think? It is like when a kid is trying to annoy someone by getting as close as they can without actually touching them…the whole time yelling “I’m not touching you…I’m not touching you!” The best part is that it almost looks like Chris Drury skates over during the play to tell him to get in position. Haha.